Ion mobility spectrometers

ABSTRACT

An ion mobility spectrometer has a reaction region separated from a drift region by an electrostatic gate. A doping circuit supplies a dopant to the reaction region but the drift region is undoped. Two high field ion modifiers are located one after the other in the drift region. One ion modifier can be turned on to remove dopant adducts from the admitted ions, or both ion modifiers can be turned on so that the ions are also fragmented. In this way, several different responses can be produced to provide additional information about the nature of the analyte substance and distinguish it from interferents.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/209,824, filed on Aug. 15, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,466,414, issued on Jun. 18, 2013, entitled “Ion Mobility Spectrometers,” which in turn is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/529,238, filed on Aug. 31, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,999,224, issued on Aug. 16, 2011, entitled “Ion Mobility Spectrometers,” which is the National Stage of PCT International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2008/000759, filed Mar. 6, 2008, which claims priority to GB 0704547.9, filed Mar. 9, 2007, all of which patent applications are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all of which patent applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention related to ion mobility spectrometers of the kind having a drift region and a reaction region.

Ion mobility analysis is a commonly used technique for detecting the presence of explosives, hazardous chemicals, and other vapors. An ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) typically includes a detector cell to which a sample of air containing a suspected substance or analyte is continuously supplied as a gas or vapor. The cell operates at or near atmospheric pressure and contains electrodes energized to produce a voltage gradient along the cell. Molecules in the sample of air are ionized, such as by means of a radioactive source, an ultraviolet (UV) source, or by corona discharge, and the ionized molecules are admitted into the drift region of the cell by an electrostatic gate at one end. The ionized molecules drift to the opposite end of the cell at a speed that is dependent upon the mobility of the ion. By measuring the time of flight along the cell, it is possible to identify the ion.

In an undoped IMS system, it has been found that certain nerve agents produce identifiable breakdown peaks when subject to ion modification by a high electrical field. This leads to an increase in the information that can be gained from the spectrum and leads to a greater confidence in analyte detection.

It is common practice to improve detection by adding a dopant substance to the analyte substance in order to distinguish between an interferent substance producing a similar spectral output. The dopant is selected to combine with the substance of interest so that an identifiable pair of spectral peaks are respectively produced by the undoped analyte substance and the doped analyte substance. The dopant is also selected so that it does not combine with the interferent substance, or it combines in a manner that produces a readily distinguishable output different from the substance of interest.

It has been found that ion modification is not possible in a doped system. Instead, the ion modification process removes the dopant adducts from certain ions without producing any modification of the ion itself. This may be because the dopant adduct is only removed from the ions when it has passed most of the way through the modifier, and there is insufficient distance left in the modifier for further ion modification to take place. De-adducted ions will only remain this way if the region of the ion modifier is free of dopant, since otherwise recombination will occur.

It is accordingly desirable to provide an alternative ion mobility spectrometer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an ion mobility spectrometer of the above-specified kind, characterized in that the spectrometer is arranged and configured to dope the reaction region without doping the drift region, wherein the spectrometer includes at least two selectively operable ion modifiers located one after the other along the ion flow path such that at least one modifier is effective when operated to remove dopant adducts from the ions.

At least one of the ion modifiers is preferably arranged to establish a high electrical field sufficient to fragment the ions. Alternatively, at least one of the ion modifiers may be effective to raise the temperature to a level sufficient to fragment the ions. The spectrometer preferably includes a filtered gas flow path flowing through the drift region to remove any dopant from the drift region. The spectrometer may include a doping circuit arranged to supply a dopant vapor to a region of the reaction region adjacent the drift region and to remove the dopant vapor at the opposite end of the reaction region such that the dopant flows away from the drift region. The spectrometer may include an electrostatic gate between the reaction region and the drift region. The spectrometer may be arranged to operate the ion modifiers in response to detection of a peak corresponding to a known interferent such that dopant adducts are then removed. The spectrometer may be arranged to derive a first output when both ion modifiers are off, a second output when one ion modifier only is on, and a third output when both ion modifiers are on.

In a first method embodiment, a method of operating an ion mobility spectrometer to distinguish between a substance of interest and an interferent is disclosed which comprises: providing an analyte to an ion mobility spectrometer having a doped reaction region and an undoped drift region; analyzing a first output indicative of ions detected in the drift region to determine whether the first output could be indicative of an interferent; if the first output could be indicative of a known interferent, activating at least a first ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region; analyzing a second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and based upon the first output and the second output, distinguishing between the substance of interest and the interferent.

In a second method embodiment, a method of operating an ion mobility spectrometer to distinguish between a substance of interest and an interferent is disclosed which comprises: providing an ion mobility spectrometer having a doped reaction region and an undoped drift region; admitting an analyte to the reaction region and ionizing molecules of the analyte; passing ions from the reaction region to the drift region; detecting ions in the drift region and producing an output indicative of the detected ions; analyzing a first output indicative of ions detected in the drift region to determine whether the first output could be indicative of an interferent; if the first output could be indicative of a known interferent, activating at least a first ion modifier element to modify the ions in the drift region; analyzing a second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region by undoping and/or chemically modifying the ions; and based upon the first output and the second output, distinguishing between the substance of interest and the interferent.

Additionally, an ion mobility spectrometer capable of distinguishing between a substance of interest and an interferent is disclosed which comprises: a doped reaction region and an undoped drift region; a collector in the drift region that provides an output indicative of ions detected by the collector; a processing and control unit configured to analyze a first output provided by the collector to determine whether the first output could be indicative of an interferent; and at least one ion modifier element located in the drift region, wherein the processing and control unit is configured to activate the at least one ion modifier element to modify the ions in the drift region if the processing and control unit determines that the first output could be indicative of a known interferent; and wherein if the processing and control unit activates the at least one ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region, the processing and control unit is further configured to analyze a second output provided by the collector indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and wherein the processing and control unit is additionally configured to distinguish between the substance of interest and the interferent based upon the first output and the second output.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An ion mobility spectrometer that is constructed and operated according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which is a schematic diagram of an exemplary ion mobility spectrometer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The spectrometer has a tubular drift cell 1 with an inlet 2 at its left-hand end (as shown in the FIGURE) by which a sample analyte gas or vapor enters the drift cell 1 via a selective barrier such as a membrane, pinhole, or the like (not shown). The inlet 2 opens into an ionization region 3 in the drift cell 1 that includes a conventional ionization source 4, such as a corona ionization point, a radioactive source, a UV photoionization source, or the like. The ionization region 3 opens into a reaction region 5 in which ions produced by the ionization source 4 react with the analyte molecules.

The reaction region 5 includes several electrode pairs 6 spaced along the region and driven by a voltage source 7 to produce a potential gradient along the region that draws ions to the right. The reaction region 5 is connected into a doping circuit 8 including a conventional dopant source 9 and a pump 10. The outlet 11 of the doping circuit 8 is connected to the drift cell 1 at the right-hand end of the reaction region 5 (as shown in the FIGURE); its inlet 12 is connected to the left-hand end of the reaction region 5 (as shown in the FIGURE) so that dopant gas flows along the reaction region 5 from the right to the left (as shown in the FIGURE).

The right-hand end of the reaction region 5 (as shown in the FIGURE) communicates with a drift region 20 via a conventional electrostatic gate 21 by which ions from the reaction region 5 are admitted into or excluded from the drift region 20. Operation of the electrostatic gate 21 is controlled by a processing and control unit 22. The drift region 20 includes an ion detector or collector plate 23, the output of which is connected with an input to the processing and control unit 22 so as to produce an output spectrum representative of the ions incident on the collector plate 23, in the usual way.

The output of the processing and control unit 22 is supplied to a display 24 or other utilization element. Electrode pairs 25 spaced along the drift region 20 are connected to a voltage source 26 to provide a potential gradient along the length of the drift region 20 that is effective to draw the ions from left to right (as shown in the FIGURE) towards the collector plate 23.

Immediately adjacent the electrostatic gate 21 inside the drift region 20 are mounted two ion modifier grids 30 and 31, each in the form of a pair of parallel electrode grids extending laterally of the ion flow path, which ion flow path extends axially along the drift cell 1. The construction of the ion modifier grids 30 and 31 is such as to allow ions to pass freely through them and, in this respect, the ion modifier grids are preferably made from a mesh of electrically conductive wires with spaces between them through which the ions can flow. The ion modifier grids 30 and 31 are connected to the processing and control unit 22, which is operable to apply a high voltage between the ion modifier grids 30 and 31 that is sufficient to modify the nature of any ions in the space between the ion modifier grids 30 and 31, such as by fragmentation of the ions. An additional effect of this high field is to remove the dopant adducts from the ions.

Alternative ion modifiers may be possible, and may involve heating, radiation, electrical discharge, magnetic fields, or lasers. Although the ion modifier grids 30 and 31 are shown as being close to each other, they could be spaced from each other, with the downstream, right-hand (as shown in the FIGURE) ion modifier grid 31 being located a distance along the drift region 20.

Clean dry air is circulated along the drift region 20 by an air flow system 32 having an outlet 33 into the drift cell 1 adjacent the collector plate 23. The inlet 34 of the air flow system 32 is located just to the left of the electrostatic gate 21 (as shown in the FIGURE). The air flow system 32 includes a pump 35 and a filter in the form of a molecular sieve 36 connected in series between the inlet 34 and the outlet 33. Air is, therefore, circulated to flow from right to left along the drift region 20 (as shown in the FIGURE) and is dried and cleaned by the action of the molecular sieve 36. The air flow system 32 is effective to remove any dopant vapor that might permeate into it from the reaction region 5. In this way, the reaction region 5 is doped and the drift region 20 is undoped.

In operation, analyte sample vapor is admitted to the drift cell 1 via the inlet 2 and is doped and ionized in the reaction chamber 5. The resultant ions are then moved by the field established by the electrode pairs 6 towards the electrostatic gate 21. The doped ions are admitted in a timed fashion by the electrostatic gate 21 under control of the processing and control unit 22 and enter the drift region 20.

In normal operation, with the ion modifier grids 30 and 31 being unenergized and inoperative, the doped ions move along the drift region 20 to the collector plate 23 and produce corresponding responses at the processing and control unit 22. If, however, the output from the processing and control unit 22 includes a peak for which there is a known interferent, both ion modifier grids 30 and 31 are turned on to render them operative. The effect of this is that the upstream, left-hand (as shown in the FIGURE) ion modifier grid 30 removes any dopant adduct from the ions passing through it.

The now undoped, ions pass to the downstream modifier 31, where they are further modified to cause fragmentation or other changes in the ion chemistry of the ions. Because the drift region 20 is undoped, the undoped and modified ions move along the drift region 20 without being exposed to any dopant. This causes a change in the output response at the collector plate 23 so that the response produced by the analyte substance of interest and its interferent will generally be different when the ion modifier grids 30 and 31 are turned on. By characterizing the apparatus before use with the analyte substance and its interferent, it is, therefore, possible to distinguish between the substance of interest and its interferent.

The system could be arranged such that the output of the collector plate 23 is monitored initially with only one ion modifier grid 30 operative so that the only change was the removal of the dopant adducts. Then, the second ion modifier grid 31 could be turned on. In this way, three different outputs would be produced: one output derived from doped ions, with neither modifier on; a second output derived from undoped, unmodified ions, with one modifier on; and a third output derived from undoped, modified ions, with both ion modifiers on.

It will be appreciated that the ion mobility spectrometer of the present invention could also have more than two ion modifiers.

Although the foregoing description of the ion mobility spectrometer of the present invention has been shown and described with reference to particular embodiments and applications thereof, it has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the particular embodiments and applications disclosed. It will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes, modifications, variations, or alterations to the invention as described herein may be made, none of which depart from the spirit or scope of the present invention. The particular embodiments and applications were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such changes, modifications, variations, and alterations should therefore be seen as being within the scope of the present invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally, and equitably entitled. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating an ion mobility spectrometer to distinguish between a substance of interest and an interferent, the method comprising: providing an analyte to an ion mobility spectrometer having a doped reaction region and an undoped drift region; analyzing a first output indicative of ions detected in the drift region to determine whether the first output could be indicative of an interferent; if the first output could be indicative of a known interferent, activating at least a first ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region; analyzing a second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and based upon the first output and the second output, distinguishing between the substance of interest and the interferent.
 2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the first ion modifier element is configured to remove a dopant adduct from ions in the drift region.
 3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the activating step further comprises: if the first output could be indicative of a known interferent, additionally activating at least a second ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region.
 4. A method as defined in claim 3, wherein the first ion modifier element is configured to remove a dopant adduct from ions in the drift region, and wherein the second ion modifier element is configured to cause fragmentation or other changes in the ion chemistry of ions in the drift region.
 5. A method as defined in claim 4, wherein the second ion modifier element is configured to establish a high electrical field sufficient to fragment the ions in the drift region.
 6. A method as defined in claim 4, wherein the second ion modifier element is configured to raise the temperature to a level sufficient to fragment the ions in the drift region.
 7. A method as defined in claim 3, wherein the first and second ion modifier elements in the drift region are both simultaneously activated to modify the ions in the drift region prior to analyzing the second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region.
 8. A method as defined in claim 3, wherein only the first ion modifier element in the drift region is activated to modify the ions in the drift region prior to analyzing the second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region, wherein the method additionally comprises: while the first ion modifier element in the drift region is activated to modify the ions in the drift region, activating the second ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region and analyzing a third output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and based upon the first output, the second output, and the third output, distinguishing between the substance of interest and the interferent.
 9. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the ion mobility spectrometer is initially operated without admitting the substance of interest and the first and second outputs are analyzed, with the results being compared with the analyzed first and second outputs after the substance of interest has been admitted to further distinguish between the substance of interest and the interferent.
 10. A method of operating an ion mobility spectrometer to distinguish between a substance of interest and an interferent, the method comprising: providing an ion mobility spectrometer having a doped reaction region and an undoped drift region; admitting an analyte to the reaction region and ionizing molecules of the analyte; passing ions from the reaction region to the drift region; detecting ions in the drift region and producing an output indicative of the detected ions; analyzing a first output indicative of ions detected in the drift region to determine whether the first output could be indicative of an interferent; if the first output could be indicative of a known interferent, activating at least a first ion modifier element to modify the ions in the drift region by undoping and/or chemically modifying the ions; analyzing a second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and based upon the first output and the second output, distinguishing between the substance of interest and the interferent.
 11. A method as defined in claim 10, wherein the first ion modifier element is configured to remove a dopant adduct from ions in the drift region.
 12. A method as defined in claim 10, further comprising: if the first output could be indicative of a known interferent, additionally activating at least a second ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region.
 13. A method as defined in claim 12, wherein the second ion modifier element is configured to cause fragmentation or other changes in the ion chemistry of ions in the drift region.
 14. A method as defined in claim 10, wherein the ion mobility spectrometer is initially operated without admitting the substance of interest and the first and second outputs are analyzed, with the results being compared with the analyzed first and second outputs after the substance of interest has been admitted to further distinguish between the substance of interest and the interferent.
 15. An ion mobility spectrometer capable of distinguishing between a substance of interest and an interferent, the ion mobility spectrometer comprising: a doped reaction region and an undoped drift region; a collector in the drift region that provides an output indicative of ions detected by the collector; a processing and control unit configured to analyze a first output provided by the collector to determine whether the first output could be indicative of an interferent; and at least one ion modifier element located in the drift region, wherein the processing and control unit is configured to activate the at least one ion modifier element to modify the ions in the drift region if the processing and control unit determines that the first output could be indicative of a known interferent; and wherein if the processing and control unit activates the at least one ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region, the processing and control unit is further configured to analyze a second output provided by the collector indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and wherein the processing and control unit is additionally configured to distinguish between the substance of interest and the interferent based upon the first output and the second output.
 16. An ion mobility spectrometer as defined in claim 15, wherein the at least one ion modifier element is configured to remove dopant adducts from the ions when the at least one ion modifier element is activated.
 17. An ion mobility spectrometer as defined in claim 16, additionally comprising: at least one additional ion modifier element located in the drift region, wherein the processing and control unit is configured to activate the at least one additional ion modifier element to modify the ions in the drift region if the processing and control unit determines that the first output could be indicative of a known interferent.
 18. An ion mobility spectrometer as defined in claim 17, wherein the at least one additional ion modifier element is configured to cause fragmentation or other changes in the ion chemistry of ions in the drift region.
 19. An ion mobility spectrometer as defined in claim 18, wherein the processing and control unit is configured to simultaneously activate both the at least one ion modifier element and the at least one additional ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region prior to analyzing the second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region.
 20. An ion mobility spectrometer as defined in claim 18, wherein the processing and control unit is configured to activate only the at least one ion modifier element to modify the ions in the drift region prior to analyzing the second output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; wherein while the at least one ion modifier element in the drift region is activated to modify the ions in the drift region, the processing and control unit is configured to activate the at least one additional ion modifier element in the drift region to modify the ions in the drift region and analyzing a third output indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region; and wherein the processing and control unit is also configured to analyze a third output provided by the collector indicative of modified ions detected in the drift region while the at least one ion modifier element in the drift region and the at least one additional ion modifier element in the drift region are both activated; and wherein the processing and control unit is further configured to distinguish between the substance of interest and the interferent based upon the first output, the second output, and the third output. 